Interlocking structural members



May 14, 1968 E. c. SMITH ETAL INTERLOCKING STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Filed Oct.22, 1965 'M/VEA /R EDWARD C. SMITH GElgQLD KTURNER United States PatentOfi ice 3,382,639 Patented May 14, 1968 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Astructural member for interlocking with a similarly constructedstructure member by means of key locks comprising an elongated channelshaped body portion, finger portions extending at an oblique angleadjacent the ends of leg portions of the channel shaped body portion andextending on the inside surfaces thereof in a direction toward eachother, shoulder means mounted on the ends of said finger portions andkey locks for locking the structural members together for forming anintegral hollow member received by the abutting leg portions and fingerportions and engaging the shoulder means.

This invention relates to building structures and is more particularlydirected to interlocking structural members.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a structuralmember consisting of a pair of identically extruded members interlockedtogether by a key to form a hollow structural member.

Another object of the present invention is to provide structural membersfor screen enclosures and the like made from only two extruded partswhich when interlocked with each other form all of the structuralmembers required in such a building.

A further object of the present invention is to provide interlockingstructural members which are simple in construction and design,inexpensive in cost and readily fabricated by interlocking a pair ofextruded members.

A still further object of the present invention is to provideinterlocking structural members for screen enclosures and the like,wherein the interlocking structural members are secured together bymeans of a locking key which permits the dismantling of the interlockingmembers by merely cutting the locking key and permitting there-interlocking and reuse of the interlocking structural members.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification, with the understanding, however, that the invention isnot confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawingbut may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modificationsmark no material departure from the salient features of the invention asexpressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a screen enclosureutilizing interlocking structural members constructed in accordance withour invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary exploded view of the extruded members and alock key.

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view of a member for fabricating a cornerinterlocking beam.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals are used to designatesimilar parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 refers to ascreen enclosure consisting of a floor or platform 11 upon which aremounted upright intermediate structural members or beams B, a cornerbeam C, sill beam A, corner overhead beams C and overhead intermediatebeams B. The various beams A, B and C which constitute the structuralportions of the screen enclosure 10 are fastened together and anchoredto the floor 11 in the usual and conventional manner as by braces,brackets, and bolts well known to those acquainted with the art.

The essence of the instant invention is in the construction of theextruded members 30 and 40 which are substantially identical except forthe position of a spline receiving groove as is explained in detailhereinafter and the manner in which they are interlocked to form thevarious beams described above in the construction of the screenenclosure 10.

The beams A which are fastened to the floor or platform 11 and extendbetween the upright beams B and the corner beams C consist of a singleextrusion member 30 having an elongated main wall portion 12 and sidewall portions 13 and 14 extending at right angle to the main wall 12.The side wall portion 13 is joined to the extreme edge of the main wallportion 12 while the side wall portion 14 terminates short of theextreme edge of the main wall portion 12 and extends inwardly forming anarcuate wall 15 joined at the inner edge to the main wall portion 12.The arcuate wall 15 which is serrated as at 17 along its full lengthforms a spline receiving groove 16.

Adjacent the free end 18 of each of the side wall portions 13 and 14 isa finger portion 19 extending from the inner surface of the side wallportion and terminating in alignment with the end portions 18 of theside walls 13 and 14. At the free end of the finger portion 19 is ashoulder 20 attached to the inner surface of the finger portion 19.

In the fabrication of the interlocking beam B a pair of extruded members30 are placed side by side with the ends 18 of the side walls 13 inalignment and contact relation. The ends 18 and fingers 19 form a cavityfor receiving a lock key 21 having an elongated web portion 22 alongwhose edges extend finger portions 23 in a direction toward each other.The finger portions 23 are positioned at the same oblique angle as thefinger portions 19 and are each of such length that they are receivedalong the inner surface of the fingers 19 and fit snugly thereinabutting against the shoulder 20 as shown by FIGURE 2 to lock theextruded members 30 together.

In the normal procedure to assemble the beams B, a pair of lock keys 21of desired length, preferably the same length as the finished beam B aresnapped in place between the fingers 19 and ends 18 of the side wall 13of one extruded member 20. Then a second extruded member 30 is placedalongside the two snap locks 21 with its ends 18 of the side walls 13and fingers 19 receiving the free edges of the web portion 22 andfingers 23 of the snap locks 21. Now by exerting a force on the mainwalls 12 of both of the extruded members 30 in a direction toward eachother, the lock key 21 will snap into position to engage the finger 19of the second extruded member. The free ends of the fingers 23 of bothlock keys 21 will now engage the shoulders 20 and prevent the extrudedmembers from being separated from each other but are rather held tightlytogether.

However, if it is decided to separate the extruded members from eachother, all that need be done is insert a cutting tool between the ends18 of the side walls 13 and cut the web portions 22 longitudinally alongtheir full length. The two extruded members 30 will now come apart fromeach other,

A single extruded member 30 is all that is required to fabricate theintermediate beams B and sill beams A. In the sill beam A only oneextruded member 30 is used While in the intermediate beams B, a pair ofextruded members 30 are used and interlocked with a key lock 21 asdescribed hereinabove.

In the fabrication of the corner beams C an extruded member 30 and anextruded member 40 are utilized. The extruded member 40 is identical inconstruction with that of the extruded member 30 except that theposition of the spline receiving groove is altered. In the extrudedmember 30, the spline receiving groove 16 is positioned along the sideWall 14 adjacent the edge of the main wall 12, while on the extrudedmember 40, the spline receiving groove 116 is on the main wall portion112 adjacent the side wall portion 113. The extruded members as and 36are interlocked by the key lock 21 in the same manner as the extrudedmembers 30, 30.

Screen Wire 24 is stretched across the areas framed by the beams A, Band C with the edges of the screens received by the slots 16. Then aplastic spline 25 is forced into the slot 16 to Wedge the screen inplace therein.

From the above description taken in connection with the drawing, it isreadily noted that use of only two extruded members 30 and 40 and keylocks 21 we are able to fabricate all of the beams A, B and C requiredin the erection of a screen enclosure. These extruded members 30 and 40are quickly and effectively interlocked to form the beams B and C and ifdesired can be separated without destroying the extruded members whichcan be reused.

What we, claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A hollow member comprising a pair of interlocking structural members,each of said interlocking structural members of substantially identicalconstruction comprising an elongated main Wall portion, a pair of sidewall portions extending at substantially right angle to said main wallportion at substantially the edge portions thereof, a finger portionmounted at one end intermediate the ends of each of said side wallportions and extending at a substantially oblique angle in the directionof the free end of said side Walls, shoulder means mounted on the freeend of each of said finger portions, said side wall portions of oneinterlocking structural member abutting against said side wall portionsof the other interlocking structural members and key lock meansextending between said side wall portions of both said interlockingstructural members and said finger portions, said key lock means havinga web portion engaging the inner surface of said side wall portions andfinger engaging portions extending at a substantially oblique angle fromthe edges of said web portion and abutting against said shoulders tolock said interlocking structural members together.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,837,153 6/1958 Brown 5263 X3,101,820 8/1963 Snyder 52-731 X 3,143,165 8/1964 Lewis 52---731 X3,196,992 7/1965 Owen 52-282 3,222,841 12/1965 Lipof 52-63 X FRANK L.ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. CHARLES G. MUELLER, Assistant Examiner.

